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Unrelenting, Low-Intensity Terrorism Like WWII London Blitz

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As the month-long Muslim time of fasting and prayer nears an end, Islamist terrorists are changing their tactics.
    
They're now carrying out fewer big, spectacular attacks. Instead, lone wolves from Michigan to Europe are using knives and vehicles to target fewer victims, and they get much media attention.

The most recent terror incident happened Wednesday in Flint, Michigan.
 
A 50-year old Tunisian man from Canada – Amor Fthoui – attacked a police officer at Bishop Airport. He used a 12-inch survival knife to stab officer Jeff Neville.
 
"Lt. Neville fought him right until the end right until I was able to handcuff this person," said Bishop Airport Chief of Police Chris Miller 

Fthoui shouted "Allahu akbar" – Allah is greatest – before attacking the airport policeman.

"He made a statement something to the effect of 'you have killed people in Syria and Iraq and Afghanistan and we are all going to die'" explained FBI agent David Gelios.
 
Neville was taken to a Flint hospital where he was listed in stable condition. Fthoui was charged with committing an act of violence at an international airport. Terrorism charges are likely.
 
That attack here in the U.S. came after more lone wolf strikes in France and Belgium earlier this week.
 
In Paris – one of Europe's top summer tourist destinations, a second terrorist attack in three months occurred along the Champs Elysees. 

Adam Djaziri, 31, from the Paris suburb of Argenteuil, drove a car packed with explosives into police.
 
And in Brussels, a man was shot by police as he attempted to detonate a suitcase bomb at the central train station. 
 
The 36-year old Moroccan national – a suspected supporter of ISIS – lived in Molenbeek. It's the Brussels neighborhood linked to past terror attacks in Paris and Brussels. 
 
In Europe, and even here in the United States, officials are warning about the growing possibilities of more terrorism. And one criminology expert in Paris says people are becoming numb to all the attacks.
 
Professor Alain Bauer compares the frequent attacks living in London and facing constant danger during the Nazi blitz in World War Two. That's when German planes repeatedly bombed innocent civilians. 

He said just as back then, the question is not if there will be more attacks, but when and how to endure them – with the idea that at the end, the West will win.
 
And he said that now, smaller lone wolf attacks are becoming the norm.
 
Bauer said, "We have gone from hyperterrorism ...to low-intensity terrorism of proximity, with few victims but with a strong media amplification." 
 
As Europeans brace themselves for more possible terrorist attacks during the busy summer tourist season, ISIS is suffering military defeats in Syria and Iraq.
 
When Iraqi troops closed in, ISIS acknowledged defeat in Mosul by blowing up the Grand al-Nuri mosque.
 
It's the same mosque where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the Islamic State caliphate three years ago.
 

 

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About The Author

Gary Lane
Gary
Lane

Mr. Lane currently serves as International News Director and Senior International Correspondent for CBN News. He has traveled to more than 120 countries—many of them restricted nations or areas hostile to Christianity and other minority faiths where he has interviewed persecution victims and has provided video reports and analysis for CBN News. Also, he has provided written stories and has served as a consultant for the Voice of the Martyrs. Gary joined The Christian Broadcasting Network in 1984 as the first full-time Middle East Correspondent for CBN News. Based in Jerusalem, Gary produced